Heartache
by GwenOwenforever
Summary: Owen tells Gwen he loves her but things don't go to plan.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

**A/N:** I know I said I'd try and write something different but I just had to write this one.

Owen gazed sadly down into the green eyes glaring back at him, full of hatred. He swallowed back the tears that threatened to escape.

"Gwen, I'm sorry but it's the truth. I can't fight it any more. I love you." He told her again.

"Stop it." Gwen hissed. "I've lost everything because of you."

"What are you talking about?" Owen frowned.

"I fell for you a long time ago and I thought you felt the same but then you just…avoided me. You wouldn't answer my texts or my calls. You broke my heart. I tried to get things back on track with Rhys but I couldn't. When I got back from work one night, there was a note on the table and Rhys' things were missing. You screwed my life up. I struggled to get over you and now you go and do this to me and expect me to forget all that." She shouted.

"I distanced myself from you because I was afraid of how I felt. I didn't know you felt the same way. I thought you were happy with Rhys and I just wanted what was best for you." He argued. She continued to stare at him, some of the anger in her eyes disappearing. He reached up and held her face in his hand. "Please, forgive me. We can be together, properly. Just give us a chance, please."

"I'm sorry Owen." Her expression turned cold and stony. She lifted her hand and pulled his hand from her face and dropped it. "Times have changed. Things are different."

He watched as she turned and walked out of the autopsy bay and exited the Hub. His eyes stayed on the spot where she'd stood. Ignoring the footsteps he heard heading towards him, he turned his back on the spot. A hand was placed gently on his shoulder and he turned his head to glance at the owner. Tosh was smiling sadly at him.

"Give her time, she'll come round." Tosh told him.

"But what if she doesn't? She hates me Tosh." Owen whispered.

"She doesn't hate you. She's just had a lot to think about lately." Tosh told him.

"I know about Rhys, but I just don't…" He sighed.

"With Rhys? Oh yes. No, I was talking about…" Her voice trailed off as Owen frowned at her in confusion. "Never mind."

"What? What is it?" Owen demanded.

"It's none of my business." Tosh said, walking out of the autopsy bay shaking her head and holding her hands up.

Owen growled in frustration and followed her up to the main area of the Hub. He noticed Tosh speaking quietly to Jack and Ianto. Ianto glanced up at him and coughed loudly. Jack and Tosh looked up at Owen and quickly broke away. Ianto went off to make coffee while Tosh sat at her computer. Jack watched Owen for a minute before leaving for his office. Owen followed him in.

"So you and tea boy –"

"Ianto." Jack corrected him, knowing how much Ianto hated the nickname.

"Whatever. So you and _Ianto_ are in on this too." He said.

"Yes and we're not saying anything. It's up to Gwen to tell you herself, in her own time." Jack told him.

"For God's sake. Why am I the only one that has no fucking clue what is going on?" Owen shouted.

"Like I said, it's up to Gwen to tell you in her own time." Jack shouted back.

"No, I want to know now." Owen growled and stormed out of Jack's office.

As Owen stormed past Tosh, she grabbed him by the arm.

"Owen, leave it. Don't do this. Do you want to hurt Gwen more?" She asked.

He looked into her eyes and sighed. When he looked away, Tosh let go of his arm and hugged him.

"No, I don't want to hurt her. I'll wait and not just for her to tell me. I'll wait for her for as long as it takes. I love her and I'm not giving up yet." Owen told her.

Tosh smiled at him and patted his shoulder. At that moment, Gwen entered the Hub again. She glared at Owen for a few seconds then turned her gaze to Tosh. Gwen smiled at Tosh.

"I think I left my flat keys here. Have you seen them?" She asked.

Owen spotted the keys on Gwen's desk and picked them up.

"Here." He nodded.

Gwen scowled at him and held her hand out for the keys. He held them out to her and snatched them away just as she grabbed for them. He chuckled as he did it again. Gwen glared at him and stepped towards him.

"Give me my keys." She said slowly.

"Or what?" He laughed.

Gwen hit him hard across the face and grabbed her keys from his hand. She smiled smugly at him as he held his red cheek in his hand.

"I'll see you tomorrow Tosh." She said cheerily.

Gwen walked out of the Hub and Tosh had to bite to her cheek to stop herself from laughing. Owen rolled his eyes at her.

"What? You did sort of deserve that." Tosh pointed out.

"She really does hate me doesn't she?" He sighed, collapsing into his chair.

"Just give her some space and time to think." Tosh told him.

He rubbed his throbbing cheek with his hand. He had to admit, she had one hell of a punch on her.

When Owen left the Hub that night, he was torn. Half of him wanted to go and speak to Gwen, find out what all this was about, while the other half wanted to take Tosh's advice. The second half won eventually. He got in his car and drove home.

Gwen sat curled up on her sofa in her flat, staring into space with her phone in her hand. Owen's name was on the screen, all she had to do was press the call button. She wanted to explain everything to him but she couldn't. Three reasons sprang to mind. One, she couldn't believe Owen could do this to her and expect everything to be fine. Two, she was too proud to admit her feelings towards him. The third reason she pushed to a corner in the back of her mind where she wished she could forget about it and let it gather dust but she knew one day she'd have to explain the third reason. She sighed and threw the phone to other side of the sofa. Rubbing her face with her hands, she took a deep breath and tried to empty all thoughts from her mind. Her phone began to ring and she dived for it. Without looking at the screen, she answered it.

"Hello?" She said.

"Hey, it's Rhys." The voice answered.

"Oh…hey. What's up?" She sighed.

"I'm sorry if I've interrupted something. I was just wondering, did I leave my watch?" He asked.

Gwen glanced at the side where she'd placed it that morning after finding it under the bed when she tidied up.

"Yes, it's here." She answered.

"Oh cheers, I'll come pick it up tomorrow." He told her.

"Honey, hurry up. We're going to be late." A female voice said from Rhys' end.

"I'm coming. I'll see you tomorrow Gwen." Rhys sighed.

"See you." She mumbled and put the phone down.

So, Rhys had moved on already. She had to admit, it did hurt a little. It had only been a few weeks since he'd left and deep down she still loved him but not as much as she loved – no, she wasn't going to think about it. As a tear rolled down her face, she looked around at the boxes filling her flat, all her things packed inside.

The next morning, Owen entered the Hub. Tosh and Gwen oblivious to this, were stood at their computers talking with their backs to him.

"Have you decided?" Tosh asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to do it." Gwen nodded, her voice sounded sad.

"Are you sure about this though? Maybe you should think about this some more." Tosh suggested.

"I've thought about it enough. There's nothing left for me here Tosh. This job…I can't do it any more, it's ruined my life." Gwen told her.

"When?" Tosh asked.

"Tomorrow morning." Gwen answered.

Owen stood staring at them trying to process what he'd just heard. What were they on about? What did Gwen mean when she said there was nothing left for her here?

The sirens sounded behind him and Jack and Ianto entered the Hub, just back from Weevil hunting by the looks of it, well…if that's what they called it these days. Gwen and Tosh looked up. Gwen's eyes fell on Owen and widened.

"Hey Owen. Glad you finally decided to join us." Jack laughed.

"Yeah sorry…bloody car wouldn't start." He replied, never taking his eyes off Gwen.

She looked away from him quickly and sat down at her computer. He made his way down to "his lair" as Ianto called it. There was nothing for him to do down there yet but he wanted time alone to think some more about what he'd heard.

Half an hour later, Tosh walked down the steps and stood next to where he was sat on the autopsy table.

"Hey, you ok?" She asked.

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine." He answered, keeping his eyes on a spot on the floor.

"What are you doing? I didn't think Jack needed you to do any autopsies today." She frowned.

"No he didn't. I'm just thinking…about things." He sighed.

"What exactly did you hear earlier?" She asked.

Owen had been waiting for this question. He knew Gwen had sent her down to find out what he knew. Weren't you supposed to be subtle about things like this? Weren't you supposed to slowly lead up to the big question so the victim never realises what you're trying to get out of them?

"Oh, just…stuff. Nothing that made sense really." He shrugged.

Tosh watched him to see if he was lying. After a few minutes, she decided he was telling the truth and nodded.

"I'd better get back to my work." She mumbled.

"Yeah. Oh, tell Gwen, her little spy's rubbish at being subtle." Owen told her.

He looked up to see her blushing as she left. Gwen's loud whispers could be heard as she pumped Tosh for information.

"He doesn't know anything." Tosh told her.

"Are you sure? We don't know how long he was stood there." Gwen argued.

"He said he didn't hear anything that made sense." Tosh said.

Gwen fell silent and Owen felt the anger boiling inside of him again. What was she keeping from him?

He was glad when Jack shouted him up to catch some rogue Weevils.

Jack noticed how unusually quiet Owen was and how his hands gripped the steering wheel of the SUV tightly.

"Something bothering you?" Jack asked.

"Nope." Owen lied.

"Owen pull over." Jack ordered.

Owen sighed and did as Jack said. He should have guessed that Jack was lying about the Weevils and just wanted to talk to him.

"Jack, I really don't want to talk about this right now. Not with you." Owen sighed.

"Gwen asked me to give you this." Jack said, ignoring what Owen had just said. "She asked me to tell you not to open it until later."

He held out a small white envelope with his name written on in her handwriting. Owen frowned and took it from him.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Just open it later. Please understand, she wanted to tell you in person but it's just too hard for her." Jack said.

"What is? Jack, what the fuck is going on?" Owen demanded.

"It's not my place to say. Just read it when you get home tonight." Jack insisted.

Owen shoved the envelope in his jacket pocket and glared out his window.

"Are we done now?" Owen asked.

"Yes." Jack answered.

"Good. Well, if you don't mind, seeing as there are no Weevils, I'm turning round and going back to the Hub." Owen told him.

"I'm so sorry." Jack whispered.

Owen glanced at him, frowning in confusion. Jack watched him as he started the car and spun it round. Jack desperately wanted to tell him but for Gwen's sake he kept quiet. He also knew how hard it was for the rest of the team to keep quiet, he'd had enough arguments with Tosh to know differently.

When they reached the Hub, Owen noticed Gwen was missing.

"Where's Gwen?" Owen frowned.

"She's gone home. She's got a lot to do tonight." Tosh answered, giving Jack a meaningful look.

Jack nodded at her and made his way to his office.

"Ianto, with me." He called over his shoulder.

"Yep." Ianto nodded. Ianto followed Jack quickly into his office. "I helped her organise everything, she's all ready. Jack…she's heartbroken. I don't think she's thought this through properly. Maybe we should tell him the truth, get him to talk to her, make her see sense."

"Ianto, we promised we wouldn't interfere and for once, I think we should listen." Jack sighed.

"But Jack, she doesn't want this. I know she doesn't. I could see it in her eyes. She's just putting on a brave face." Ianto argued.

Jack noticed he hadn't shut the door of his office and quickly ran to close it. He glanced at Owen as it clicked shut.

Tosh avoided Owen's questioning looks and turned her back to him. She sniffed and wiped a tear from her cheek before turning back to him.

"Did you get those Weevils?" She asked, though Owen knew she meant the note.

"Yeah." Owen nodded.

"Good." She nodded and went back to her computer.

Jack let them leave an hour earlier than usual. Everyone seemed upset by something and it was beginning to bug Owen.

As soon as he got home, he grabbed the note out of his pocket and threw his jacket on the floor. Tearing open the envelope, he sat down on his sofa. He took out the note and began reading.

_"Owen  
I wish I had the courage to tell you myself, I feel terrible doing it like this but it hurts too much to tell you in person. I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I've found a job in London so I'm going up to live there. I don't know if I'll be coming back. It's too hard for me to stay here.  
I want you to know that I love you, I really do and I'll miss you. The thing is, I don't want to get hurt again and I don't want to hurt you. I hate the fact that I left without setting things right with you. You have no idea how much I hate myself right now.  
I hope that someday you'll find someone better and live a long, happy life with them.  
I'm sorry.  
Gwen xxx"_

He noticed the paper was tear stained. Images of her crying as she wrote, filled his mind. His heart shattered and he crumpled the paper in his hand. He slipped off the sofa onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

When he calmed down, he noticed another slip of paper in the envelope. It was a short note from Jack, he could tell by the writing. He must have slipped it in when Gwen wasn't looking.

_"Don't let her go. Stop her, make her see sense. I know she loves you."_

Tomorrow morning, he would stop Gwen from leaving. He'd hold her in his arms and tell her he loved her. He'd promise her he'd never hurt her again and beg her to stay with him. Determined not to miss his chance, he set his alarm for six o'clock in the morning and went to bed.

The anxiety kept him awake all night and seemed like forever before his alarm went off. He jumped out of bed and quickly got ready.

He sped off to Gwen's flat, urging the car to go faster as he glanced at the speedometer.

Abandoning his car outside her flat, he jumped out and ran to the main doors. He jammed his finger onto the buzzer.

"Gwen, it's me Owen. Let me in, I need to speak to you." He shouted into it. When he received no answer, he pressed it again. "Gwen, please."

He waited a couple of minutes before shouting in frustration. He kicked the door. As he turned back to his car, he noticed Gwen's wasn't in it's usual parking space. She must have gone to the Hub to say goodbye.

He drove to the Hub, praying he wasn't too late.

When he ran into the Hub, Tosh was already there surprisingly.

"Owen, what are you –"

"Where is she?" He demanded.

"You read the note then." She said sadly.

"Tosh, where is she?" He shouted.

"She left last night. She didn't want you to try and stop her." Tosh told him.

"She's…she's gone?" Owen whispered.

Tosh nodded and turned away from him, she couldn't bear to see him break down. Tears burned his eyes as he realised he'd missed his opportunity. Ianto placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Owen shrugged it off and slowly walked out of the Hub.

He ignored his car and walked along the bay, gazing out at the sea. Leaning on the railings he held his face in his hands and cried.

He wasn't aware of how long he was standing there for until he felt his phone vibrate. As he opened the message from Tosh, he saw he'd been there for only an hour.

_"Are you ok?"_

He ignored it and turned his phone off.

He wasn't sure how he'd managed to drive himself home. Gwen's note lay on the floor where he'd dropped it last night. Picking it up, he sat down on the sofa and held the only thing he had left of Gwen in his hands. Anger towards Jack began to build up inside him. Why hadn't he let Ianto or Tosh tell him earlier?

Gazing out the window, he thought of all the things he had wanted to say to Gwen before she'd left. Would she have stayed if he had managed to catch her? Did she really love him like Jack said she did?

He heard someone knocking on the door and ignored it. It was probably someone from the Hub making sure he hadn't done anything stupid.

"Owen." A voice called.

No, he had to be imagining things. He jumped up off the sofa and flung the door open.

He gazed into the big green eyes staring back at him. Gwen launched herself at Owen and wrapped her arms tightly round his neck as she crushed her lips onto his. Owen wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her as close to him as possible and lifting her slightly off the floor, while the other tangled in her hair. His heart pounded against his chest as he held her in his arms. She broke away and rested her forehead against his.

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't leave." She whispered and kissed him again. "Owen, I love you."

Owen moved his hand from her hair to cup her tear stained cheek and stroked it with his thumb. She leant into it and closed her eyes, breathing in his scent.

"I love you too." He whispered.

He placed a kiss on her forehead and pulled her gently over to the sofa. While he went to close the door, she picked up the note Owen had dropped. As he sat down next to her, she looked up at him, tears rolling down her face.

"I'm so sorry." She sobbed.

"It's ok, you're here now and I'm never letting you go again." He told her.

He leant back on the sofa and pulled her so she sat on his lap. She curled up into his chest like a child and clung onto the front of his shirt. He held her hand and laced his fingers through hers while his other ran through her hair.

"I was hoping…that night we argued, that you'd come and see me. I wanted to tell you everything, I wanted you to stop me but I got scared in case you changed your mind." She told him.

"Never." He said kissing the top of her head. "I wanted to come but Tosh and Jack told me not to. Why were you leaving anyway?"

"When everything went wrong, I just wanted to get away from it all. I applied for the job in London and they accepted me. I tried to convince myself it was what I wanted. But when I got to the train station, I realised I couldn't leave, not after you told me you loved me too." She explained.

"I went to your flat to try and stop you this morning. When I realised you weren't there, I went to the Hub, thinking you'd be saying goodbye. Tosh told me you'd left already. I thought I'd lost you." He told her.

She looked up into his eyes and saw him fighting back tears. Leaning up towards him, she captured his lips in a gentle kiss. Lifting her into his arms, he carried her towards his bed and placed her down. She pulled him down next to her.

"I love you." She whispered.

He crushed his lips against hers and felt her melt in his arms.

Half an hour later, Owen watched Gwen sleeping, curled up into his chest. His clock only read twelve o'clock in the afternoon but the emotional roller coaster had tired her out. Tracing gentle patterns on her thigh, he heard her sigh and saw a small smile on her face.

"Sorry." He said, thinking he'd woken her up.

She wriggled closer to him, her eyes still closed.

"My Owen." She mumbled.

Owen laughed softly and wrapped his arms around her, listening to her soft breathing.

After a couple more minutes, he decided to make lunch for when she woke up. Before he left, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

His phone began to ring as he entered the kitchen. He answered it, quickly glancing at the screen.

"Hey Tosh." He said.

"Hey. How are you?" Tosh asked.

"I'm amazing. She came back, Tosh." He told her.

"She did? Oh Owen, I'm so happy for you." Tosh squealed.

"Thanks." Owen laughed.

"So what happened?" Tosh demanded.

"Well, I'd given up hope and just ended up coming home. Then she turned up and told me she couldn't leave. We talked for a bit and…well, the rest is private." Owen told her.

"Is she there?" Tosh asked.

"She's asleep at the minute." Owen answered.

"I'm not surprised. She's been so stressed and upset about everything." Tosh sighed.

"I know." He said.

"Well, I'd best go. Give Gwen my love and I'll see you soon." She said.

"Ok, laters." He replied.

He put the phone down and stood in the middle of the kitchen. He had no idea what to make. The fast food menus on the side called to him. Gwen would be alright with a pizza, wouldn't she? He dialled the number of his favourite pizza place and ordered two large meat feast pizzas. He decided to put something on before the delivery person got there.

Gwen was just waking up as he entered the bedroom again.

"Hey." She smiled as she sat up and stretched.

"Have a good sleep?" He asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Uh-huh." She nodded and crawled over to him.

He wrapped his arms around her as she leant her head on his shoulder. Her stomach growled loudly and she blushed a deep shade of red.

"I ordered pizza." Owen grinned.

"Good, I'm starving." She sighed.


End file.
